Why do you need functional training?
Functional Training (FT) is of great importance to human beings today. In today’s world, focused on quality of life and comfort, functional training allows you to practice the movements you perform every day, strengthen the musculoskeletal system and the cardiovascular system.
Every day you squat or stand, push or pull, keep your balance, lift children or carry heavy purchases to the store. By performing these movements, you activate various muscle groups, including the deepest stabilizing muscles that are difficult to pump for cardio, strength, or other exercises. Functional – means related to daily activities.
Why is functional training important to you? What advantages do they bring? Let’s understand in more detail.
Development of coordination
During functional training, the large and small stabilizing muscles work, which are responsible for the stability, balance and aesthetics of our movements.
The exercises are performed with your own weight or with a free weight. This allows the muscles to move in a physiologically free way, the usual way for them, as in life.
Power and speed development
Regular training in functional training strengthens the muscles and makes them stronger. This is due to strength exercises and gradually increasing the load when working with free weights or TRX curls.
The exercises during functional training are performed at a medium and high pace, which makes the training intense, gives the movement a fast and explosive character and promotes the growth of strength.
Development of resistance and flexibility
Due to the rhythm and aerobic load during functional training, the heart rate increases steadily, the heart pumps blood more efficiently. It has a positive effect on the work of blood vessels and the cardiovascular system as a whole, increasing its endurance.
Functional training uses multi-joint exercises that stimulate the work of all muscle groups, thus developing the flexibility of all the structures of our body.
Effectiveness of functional training
The effectiveness of regular exercise is that they help burn calories, and during prolonged aerobic exercise they use stored fat as an energy source.
The great advantage of functional exercises is that by burning fat stores, you also increase muscle mass. It changes your body shape, makes you more toned and attractive, and most importantly, helps you burn more calories at rest. This is due to the acceleration of metabolism in the post-workout period (when you are resting or just sleeping)
What is the difference between strength training and functional training?
Understanding by areas of strength training such as weightlifting and strength training, we emphasize that the goals of functional training and strength training are different:
- Using strength training, athletes “deliberately “build the body”, by pumping up certain muscle groups or specific muscles.
- In functional training, the priority is the harmonious development of muscles and the coordinated work of all muscle groups, the increase in strength and endurance, as well as the flexibility of the body.
Therefore, the “tools” to achieve these goals are also different:
- Functional fitness is a mix of cardiovascular and strength exercises, it involves all muscle groups in complex ways, including the most difficult ones.
- In bodybuilding, strictly defined muscle groups or even certain muscles work in isolation.
Almost all workouts are suitable for beginners of varying fitness levels. But one of the hallmarks of functional training is its wide availability for people of different ages, genders, and backgrounds:
- Functional training is physiological. Multi-joint exercises keep the load on ligaments and joints light, the load on the spine is low, and the development of stabilizing muscles reduces injury.
- Bodybuilding is characterized by work “at the limit”, in a state of tension. The technique of performing the exercises must be perfected and the assessment of the workload must be adequate. Otherwise, there is a risk of injury.
Functional training has a physiological nature of movement, which minimizes injury and stress on the spine, joints and ligaments. This makes training data available for all age groups.